THE kilted cabbie ordered to strip the Saltires from his private hire car has hailed the support of local councillors.

Stirling Council told Rob Jamieson the white decals on his blue motor were in breach of regional rules.

The news left Jamieson’s plans to expand his Saltire Taxis & Tours service at a standstill.

The Killin man had been revving up to expand but told The National he’d been given the green light for the £1000 roof and bonnet stripes in two phone calls with council staff, and another to the DVLA.

READ MORE: Driver told he can't put a Saltire on his taxi in bizarre crackdown

Two months later, the local authority says Jamieson is breaking private hire rules which allow “a maximum of one sign on each of the two front doors, with strict limits on size and what information is displayed”.

But Jamieson, who recently relocated to the Trossachs from Kent with wife Sharon, says the Saltire is not a sign – and he now has the backing of local councillors.

Evelyn Tweed of the SNP and Martin Earl of the Tories both represent the Trossachs and Teith ward, of which Killin is a part.

After The National shared Jamieson’s story, it made headlines across the Scottish press and went around the world via social media.

Now both representatives have come forward to back their constituent.

Tweed, who noted that the Saltire can be found on lorries, taxis and other vehicles across the country, said she was baffled by the edict, telling the Stirling Observer: “I’m pressing for answers on why this has become an issue but at the present time I can’t see that my constituent has done anything untoward.”

And, calling Jamieson’s car “very smart”, Earl backed a rule change to give operators more flexibility to make use of “quality” design.

He said: “This sounds like the current criteria needs changing to allow for the use of a perfectly reasonable and appropriate design promoting a local business.”

Explaining the decision, SNP-and-Labour-run Stirling Council said: “Private hire vehicles can only display a maximum of one sign on each of the two front doors, with strict limits on size and what information is displayed.

“Information is restricted to company name and/or company logo.

“Mr Jamieson’s signage does not meet this criteria and we have informed him of this. We will continue to engage with him to seek a positive resolution to this matter.”

Jamieson says his decals are not corporate signage, but do appeal to customers. He told The National: “Everybody thinks it’s lovely and tourists love it.

“It doesn’t matter where I go, people flash their lights, blow their horns, give me the thumbs-up. When I pick people up at pubs or the airport, they can see me straight away.

“I was thinking about expanding more into tours and operating more cars with this as the branding, now I’m not sure if I can do that.”

On securing the backing of councillors, he said: “Having them involved could help me win this – I’m obviously hoping that it does.

“I just think it’s crazy. It’s not a logo, I’m not sure why it’s considered signage when it’s our country’s flag.”

On the response to the original article, Jamieson said: “There are responses from all over the world saying ‘what is this?’ It hasn’t surprised me that people who support independence have reacted, but it has surprised me that so many people have.”